Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Radio Bible Class Ministries was founded by Dr. M. R. De Haan in the 1930s. Today, his grandson Mart De Haan presides over the ministry. Their signature publication, the daily devotional called Our Daily Bread, is translated into nearly 30 languages.

In February of 2007, Lighthouse Trails reported that RBC was being influenced by contemplative authors. The report stated:

Radio Bible Class was founded by the respected Dr. De Haan in 1938. On the RBC website it states: "His commitment to ministry was to lead people of all nations to personal faith and maturity in Christ." Dr. De Haan faithfully delivered God's Word for nearly thirty years. We believe if he was here today, he would agree with us when we say that Radio Bible Class is erroneously quoting and promoting contemplative authors and in so doing straying away from the goal that Dr. De Haan had ... to maintain biblical purity and present the Word of God in accuracy and truth.

Robert SchullerIn January 2008, the Rethink Conference will take place at Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral. According to Church Communication Network (CCN), the event will be hosted by Robert Schuller and Erwin McManus. Erwin McManus

On the Rethink Conference website, the event is described as: "Leading Thinkers and Influencers offer a perspective you may never have imagined." These thinkers and influencers include a wide array of prominent personalities such as Kay Warren, Chuck Colson, former president H.W. Bush, Larry King, John and Nancy Ortberg, Rupert Murdoch, Gary Smalley, and of course hosts Robert Schuller and Erwin McManus. While at first glance there might appear to be little, if anything, in common between these speakers. However, a number of them do have one thing in common, and that is a propensity toward contemplative (i.e., mystical) spirituality. Those would include Kay Warren, the Ortbergs, Erwin McManus, Robert Schuller, Dan Kimball, and H.B. London Jr. (Focus on the Family).

According to the conference site, "If you want to increase your influence as a leader in an ever-changing culture, then ... Rethink gives you the tools and perspectives you need to lead today." The event is designed for pastors and leaders in particularly, and promises that even theologically conservative pastors will feel comfortable. Ironically enough, many of the speakers whom Christian pastors and leaders might be more willing to trust (those who are professing Christians) may be the very ones who will pass on a mystical perspective. For instance, H.B. London Jr. is an avid promoter of Richard Foster's spiritual formation, and Erwin McManus, who says it is his goal to destroy Christianity, claims that the core of his book, The Barbarian Way, is mysticism.2 Kay Warren recommends Henri Nouwen's contemplative book, In the Name of Jesus, and her husband Rick Warren has supported the contemplative (spiritual formation) movement for years (see ATOD, ch. 8)

"These culture pioneers know what is center-stage in our culture right now and also what is breaking on the horizon," says Rethink Conference executive director Bill Dallas. "This conference will confront outdated and pre-conceived ideas, offer new perspectives and open our minds to all kinds of possibilities that connect us with out [sic] shifting culture without compromising our core values."

On October 4th we posted an analysis of Robert Schuller's upcoming Rethink Conference, planned for this January 17-19th at the Crystal Cathedral. We linked to a report on the conference written by Berit Kjos and we cited some pertinent comments from ex-New Ager Warren Smith.

We want to call our readers' attention to today's headline story on WorldNetDaily, "What is Robert Schuller 'rethinking'? Crystal Cathedral conference accused of twisting biblical Christianity," and Warren Smith's accompanying article, "Rethinking Robert Schuller." And just in case this link is pulled, note the webpage where Robert Schuller is selling New Age Gerald Jampolsky's book Forgiveness, which is forewarded by Neale Donald Walsch who has written prolifically about his "conversations" with his New Age "God."

This Rethink Conference is, according to these articles, a key convergence of New Age and emerging neo-Christianity. It is this, and more. The hype for the conference states that:

Cultural Icons - Get inside their minds

For three days, you'll be immersed in the latest thoughts of respected icons in media, politics, faith, science, business and technology. Utilizing the latest media technology, each speaker will reveal their perspectives, discoveries, strategies and action plans in 20 riveting minutes. Challenged to deliver an information packed presentation, the speakers will weigh in on everything from life-changing world issues to surprising cultural trends to Christian outreach to secrets of success to the dynamics of relationships.

It's an all-star conference set for the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., Jan. 17-19.

Former President George H.W. Bush will speak.

Chuck Colson will make a presentation.

Larry King will be there.

Rupert Murdoch will address attendees.

Ben Stein will appear.

And Kay Warren, wife of Saddleback Church mega-pastor Rick Warren, will join Robert Schuller, the white-haired, bespectacled purveyor of "possibility thinking."

What could such a diverse group have in common? What's the topic?

Well, it's a little vague.

It's called the "Rethink Conference," and Schuller promises 30 "Aha!" moments from the 30 different speakers confirmed for the event.

Not everyone is thrilled about this meeting of the minds. Some, including Christian author and former New Age devotee Warren Smith, suspect an agenda to subvert the church – to take the focus off biblical truth and absolutes.

"From my perspective as a former New Age follower, I believe that Robert Schuller's mission has always been to 'rethink' and 'change' biblical Christianity into something 'new' – as in New Age/New Spirituality," he says.

Smith's "Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church" documents Schuller's contacts and endorsements of New Age stars such as Gerald Jampolsky, Neale Donald Walsch and Bernie Siegel.

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not" (2 Peter. 2:1-3).

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Those who support the Emerging Church Movement justify that "reinventing Christianity" is necessary in order to "reach" the present generation.

Reaching the present generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ is a challenge for pastors today. Young people growing up in the 21st century have a completely different worldview than their parents. Education and society in general have programmed their minds into believing there are no absolutes. We now live in a pluralistic, relativistic society. Wrong can be right and right can be wrong. It really does not make any difference. This is what it means to be religiously correct in the postmodern era.

So how does the gospel of Jesus Christ rate in a postmodern society that claims truth is a word that should be archived in the dark ages? Now that this generation has been enlightened, how do you tell a sinner they need a Savior?

For pastors who are looking for numbers for success, the Emerging Church is the answer. The Emerging Church has a whole new way of looking at Christianity. Rather than dwelling on sin, death, and hell, the Emerging Church promises peace, hope, and experience. Rather than being concerned about spending eternity with Jesus, the Emerging Church promotes the kingdom of God in the here and now.

You see, this is why Christianity, according to Emerging Church proponents, must be reinvented. Those who say such a view has the potential to lead to apostasy are considered narrow-minded, old-fashioned resistors who need to be exterminated like rats from churches.

Since writing the book Faith Undone I have discovered that taking a stand for Biblical truth in the midst of Emerging Church propaganda, can create a lot of emotional opposition. I have received many comments from the "brethren" who say that coming against the "new thing God is doing" is divisive and counter-productive.

For example, I have been part of a fellowship of pastors for many years who are presently debating the issue of the Emerging Church. There are some of these pastors who believe the Emerging Church is "just being relevant". They say this new wave that has hit Christianity like a tsunami is similar to the Jesus Movement of the '60s and '70s.

I disagree with this view. While they may be correct in saying that it is "another Jesus" movement, it is not another "Jesus Movement". The Jesus Movement of the past was based on pointing people to the Word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ and the soon return of Christ. The Emerging Church is headed in a direction that will soon eliminate the gospel for the sake of building the kingdom with anyone and everyone who will participate.

If you don't believe this, it can be proven. Read chapter eleven of Faith Undone called "Slaughterhouse Religion." Did you know that some Emerging leaders are saying the cross is "false advertising for God?"

I agree with the Emerging Church leaders that it is important to reach this generation. The issue is, what is it that we are going to reach them with? If we lead this generation away from the truth, we will not be reaching them, we will be deceiving them. The Bible calls this apostasy. For such, the God of the Bible will be the judge.